Invisalign Mom Advisory Board

I'm a Clever Girl!

February 23, 2009

Security Is Definitely A Necessity

This is a paid review for Blogher Reviews.

Time's Up! The Random.org generator has spoken, and the winner was #18, Joyful abode, who said I don't have kids of my own yet,
but I teach. Any computer time (very little) is monitored by me though.
I can see something like this being useful in schools.

Congratulations! You have 48 hours to contact me, or I'll have to pick a new winner.

With six kids, two grown ups, and three computers, we certainly have our hands full as far as a need for computer security goes. I'm only one woman with two eyes and two hands, and the kids have proven themselves very, very ingenious and crafty when it comes to being on the computer, even though the computer is in the main room. I've seen some c-r-a-z-y stuff when I check their history, and it boggles the mind to know what they might have seen.

That's why I was so delighted to be invited to review the new program from the good folks at Symantec, well known for their online security products. Their newest offering? Norton Online Family. NOF is a set of controls that let's you monitor your children's usage of the computer - not recording keystrokes, but actually what sites they visited and the length of time, and where they went next. The site visits are also grouped by like interests, so you can determine if your child is spending too much time on, say, popular teen sites instead of multiplication review. Ahem. Not that my girls would know ANYTHING about that.

The steps involved are easy. Create a family account, adding each family member with their own cute icon. Next, you install the safety minder on each computer. (The really cool thing about the Safety Minder? Every time your child goes online, the Safety Minder pops up, reminding your child that every site is being recorded. Kind of an online conscious.) The final step is to create "house rules", letting your child know what sites are acceptable and what aren't. One of the coolest features is that you can designate different rules for each child - I have kids in every single age frame, so it's really nice to know if the little ones stumble onto a site that is more appropriate to an older child.

I really think that this program rocks. The ability to look into the history of each individual child really puts my mind at rest - I could get really upset if I saw a history of sites dealing with breasts, unless I knew that one daughter was writing a health report on breast cancer. One of my other favorite features is that you can set the program to email you if a site is attempted by your child - if you've decided it goes against the family rules. Smart, smart thinking.

Norton wants to get the word out there as to the wonders of this amazing product, so they have graciously donated an iPod Touch to be given away on EACH of the TEN sites reviewing Norton Online Family. You can find all of your chances here, and enter to win one on this site below by following these simple rules.
To enter, please leave me a comment below, telling me how you stay in the loop with your kids and whether this new software will help you. You may leave a link to your post or twitter message about this contest in the comments for an additional entry. The contest will begin at 12:00 a.m. (PST) on Monday, February 24th and will end Sunday, March 9th at 11:59 p.m. (PST). Make sure your email address is valid!
Rules:
* No duplicate comments
* This giveaway is open to U.S. residents
* Winners will be selected by random draw and will be notified by email.
* You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
* See the official rules for details.

Comments

This sounds great! I have been looking for a user friendly program to keep my kids internet experiences positive. Currently my kids all share one computer that is in the kitchen so I can see exactly what they're up to. My son has a computer in his room but it doesn't have any internet access.
I'm looking forward to trying this program, I love the time limiting function. There is also a great questionnaire on the NOF website to get the ball rolling when discussing internet safety with your kids .
Thanks for the heads up!

I stay in the loop with my children because they're always with me, and so we have no other choice. I am a stay at home mom and a homeschooler. I think this software would be able to help me because I can use it to control how much time they spend on the internet. I also like the feature that I can use to check out every site they've been on.

I have an easy time staying in the loop with my girls (6 & 8) because they usually want to use my laptop since it is faster than our desktop. I'm hoping they get their own laptop soon (I'm tired of sharing - LOL!) and the Norton Online Family software sounds like it would be a wise investment when that happens.

I (we) recently got custody of his 14 yr old who has very minimal unsupervised previous experience on the internet. While we try to give him his space, we worry too. This sounds like a perfect solution.

I (we) recently got custody of his 14 yr old who has very minimal unsupervised previous experience on the internet. While we try to give him his space, we worry too. This sounds like a perfect solution.

what a great review and great giveaway. We constantly give reminders to our kids regarding what is OK and not OK to access online and when it's ok for them to be surfing the internet. We talked about naughty things that are available and showed them how to use the favorites buttons to keep good websites available and easy to get. I also just simply try to be around when they are online--never leave them to it alone, never at night, never when a babysitter is here, etc.

Hm. Right now, my staying in the loop is very labor intensive, with me checking histories on computers. We've got 3 laptops and a desktop in constant use, plus one child who takes his laptop to school to use during class. NOF would simplify that greatly for me!

We've worked very hard to teach the two older kids about internet safety, but now that they are teens, it's so hard to check up on them and make sure they're staying out of chat rooms, etc.

This would be particularly helpful for my almost 9 year old, who wants more computer independence but isn't ready for it!

I really need to monitor my child's chats more - this would be perfect. thanks jtrophy at aol dot com and please check out my blog - Who can't use a deal ???? subscribe ! www.icoulduseadeal.blogspot.com

right now I either am sitting right there watching what every one is doing or I check History to see what site they were on. Of course this is not a perfect solution. I think this software would be great to help me know what is going on.

one of the biggest tips I heard from John Walsh was to keep your family computer in a public area not in kids rooms. I am lucky right now that my daughter is little enough that she really can't access the computer without help but once she can, you had better believe I will be looking into software that helps me not only keep her safe online but allows me to track where she has been. I don't see this as nosey at all but as a necessary part of parenting in todays techno age. There are bad people out there and unfortunately, it is our job as parents to do everything we can to protect our children from them even if it means a little high tech spying. We certainly don't live in the same world where you couldn't even say pregnant on television anymore and it can be dangerous to pretend that we do.

Well, I'm a sorta-mom. What my mother calls a 'village mom'. I teach 40 preschoolers, then tutor 6 or seven more kids afterschool and on weekends.
I let the tutees use my laptop for various research-and-paper requirements.
Also? I live with my college-age brother.

I'm thinking this software is probably what I'd use to allow me a little more freedom with my tutees and brother on my computer, since right now I actually sit right next to them in order to let them use my computer. I'm conservative when it comes to internet and all sorts of stuff, so they don't get away with anything, and they don't see images that will harm their minds. I do love the ability to set up an account for each one, again, since I have several different kids I tutor at different ages and in different subjects, some of whom speak languages I don't, it's good to be able to allow or block access to territory I might otherwise not know is dangerous.

My kids are too little to use any internet connected computer, though we have a couple of the Leap-Pad type computer dealies. I don't look forward to the day when they are on the internet. This software sounds like a great way to keep an eye on them.

I love the idea of Norton Online family. My girls are "almost" grown.. the youngest is in College, so this is something I will keep in mind for nieces, nephews, and ... later, Grandkids!
I stay in the loop by talking daily with my girls, and I always had Parental controls on the computer!
The internet is NOT a safe place.. and Computers ARE a Blessing but can also be a curse! Parents need to be IN Control!
Leslie
LeslieVeg@msn.com

I love the idea of Norton Online family. My girls are "almost" grown.. the youngest is in College, so this is something I will keep in mind for nieces, nephews, and ... later, Grandkids!
I stay in the loop by talking daily with my girls, and I always had Parental controls on the computer!
The internet is NOT a safe place.. and Computers ARE a Blessing but can also be a curse! Parents need to be IN Control!
Leslie
LeslieVeg@msn.com

I love the idea of Norton Online family. My girls are "almost" grown.. the youngest is in College, so this is something I will keep in mind for nieces, nephews, and ... later, Grandkids!
I stay in the loop by talking daily with my girls, and I always had Parental controls on the computer!
The internet is NOT a safe place.. and Computers ARE a Blessing but can also be a curse! Parents need to be IN Control!
Leslie
LeslieVeg@msn.com

I love the idea of Norton Online family. My girls are "almost" grown.. the youngest is in College, so this is something I will keep in mind for nieces, nephews, and ... later, Grandkids!
I stay in the loop by talking daily with my girls, and I always had Parental controls on the computer!
The internet is NOT a safe place.. and Computers ARE a Blessing but can also be a curse! Parents need to be IN Control!
Leslie
LeslieVeg@msn.com

My daughter has her own user profile on the computer and it has parental controls that I monitor. She is also only on there if I am in viewing distance!! She is 11 and not really interested in being on it but about every other day.
Thanks for the chance!!

I am the mom of a preteen son and a ten year old daughter. My daughter is pretty limited to Nick.com, Club Penguin and Disney. My son, is a whole different story. He used to be limited to sports sites (Sports Illustrated, team websites etc). However, he recently discovered YouTube. YIKES! Right now, our security system consists of either me or my husband sitting in the room with him. I would love a program that allowed BOTH of us a little more freedom. The Norton program sounds great!

This product sounds great! I am going to check into it more and possibly start utilizing it. I worry about my kids and what all they are doing (although, I try to keep tabs on it). This will definately help monitor, anyway!
Thanks for the helpful review.

Right now my kids (7, 5 & 2) and only allowed to go on sites that we approve and add the favorites. I can see that changeing as the older two get more computer savey and better spellers. This would be a great thing!

I recently have had issues with my teen daughter sending and recieving inappropriate messages via IM. I wasn't a fan of the keystroke monitoring so when I stumbled across your review I was thrilled! I am definitely installing this on all of our computers -- we have four computers and seven kids -- and will be prepared and good to go as the younger ones get older. Thank you so much!!

We currently only let the kids surf the net every once in a while and at 6 and 4, they really aren't 'surfing'. We put them on the site of choice (Dreambox Learning, Noggin, etc) then keep an eye on them.

We employ a system of parental controls, keeping the computer in the family room and shoulder surfing to stay in the loop. We could definitely use another layer in the ever growing quest to protect our kids.

Thank you for sharing this software with us. These kind of programs are essential when you have kids. Many times I myself have been googling a subject and end up at the wrong site. Just imagine what a child could do. I only wish the government pushed to have these sites on their own domain.

You can never be too safe these days! We don't have children in our home now, but my granddaughter visits and even though she doesn't check the internet yet, I'm sure that time is coming and this would be great!

I am the mom of a preteen son and a ten year old daughter. My daughter is pretty limited to Nick.com, Club Penguin and Disney. My son is a whole different story. He used to be limited to sports sites (Sports Illustrated, team websites etc). However, he recently discovered YouTube. YIKES! Right now, our security system consists of either me or my husband sitting in the room with him. I would love a program that allowed BOTH of us a little more freedom

I keep in the loop with my kids by checking the internet history and talking to them about where they are allowed to go on the internet. I think this software would help alot with keeping tabs on what they are doing, better than just talking to them or looking at something that they could have deleted items from.